Friday, August 06, 2010

First of all, thank you for all of your advice in both the blog and your new book (I love it). You make everything easy to understand. I noticed your message about getting your network up for your Windows 7 computers. Have you experienced any difficulties running RootsMagic with Win 7? I’m going to try Roots Magic in hopes of avoiding the problems I seem to be having with TMG (The Master Genealogist).

My file of 17,000 folks seems to be causing problems. I can’t add new files to the exhibits (census images from Ancestry.com). I down load the files and nothing appears when I try to find it with either Win 7 library or TMG add exhibit function. I try to re-download and I’m told it already exists – (must be like the Loch Ness monster – it’s there but no one can prove it??) And worst of all I can not back up my database. It’s the pits! So I thought I try what you use. I hope you haven’t had similar problems with Roots Magic? Thanks for all the good advice.

Oh, by the way, I got the pension records for one of my Civil War ancestors – his widow was applying for compensation due to chronic diarrhea that he developed in boot camp. You wouldn’t believe the paperwork. One of the guys he served with wrote a letter saying that Tom had mentioned frequently that he had this problem and since Tom was not known to be a liar, he did not go and look to verify.

Please let me know if you have had any Win 7 issues with RootsMagic. Thanks again for all the advice and encouragement in your blog.

RECEIVED A FEW DAYS LATER:

DearMYRTLE,

Good news. The issue with downloading the Ancestry.com images has to do with Internet Explorer. It seems my computer was set up in 64 bit Windows rather than 32 and there was something about the way IE was working with the downloading part of Ancestry.com. I forked over money to Geeksquad online and the wonderful agent solved the problem. For a mere 30 bucks, 2 weeks of aggravation has disappeared. You may be more technology oriented than I am and can figure it out yourself but to any poor soul like me, was well worth the cost. The gentleman was able to access my computer and see what I saw and we talked about it on the phone. He also asked questions about the genealogy I was doing so we may have a new convert or victim (depending on viewpoint – mine versus my husband's). I just thought I would update you in case someone else has the problem.

DearELLEN,

Good for you, RECRUITING another family historian whenever you get the chance!

I am glad you resolved the problem with the Ancestry.com image viewer. I didn't have any problems, once I downloaded the advanced viewer. My new 27 inch monitor makes it easy to compare my database on one side of the screen with the Ancestry hits on the other side. If you hadn't hired the Geek Squad, you could have called tech support at Ancestry.com. They have a huge group of specialized workers, and a large telephone call queue for management to see how things are going. I assume when Ancestry tracks a lot of similar problems, that alerts some changes to the website.

As to your problems with your database in TMG, be sure to write to Bob Velke. He has a strong online support forum, or you could write to him at support@whollygenes.com. His great program has options not available in most other genealogy management programs. For instance, I like the "witness" list, the "reminder pop-up windows" and the "associates window" among the 50 new options in Version 7 that Mr. DearMYRTLE uses frequently. Gordon is teaching me first hand how much he likes this program.

I have installed RootsMagic on my Windows7 machine, and have been accessing my genealogy database via the Dropbox folder newly installed on this hard drive. Everything works seamlessly, thank heavens.